I decided to watch this movie to finish off the “A Better Tomorrow” trilogy. Once you watch one, you have to watch them all. I was curious to see how Tsui Hark did as a director as opposed to John Woo.

Plot

Mark goes to Vietnam in order to try to fetch his uncle and cousin, Mun, who is originally from Hong Kong to go back home with the threat of South Vietnam being taken over by the North towards the end of the Vietnam War. During their time in Vietnam, Mark and Mun encounter a powerful woman named Kit who decided to take them under her wing after they accompany her on a deal gone bad which resulted in a shoot out. She became motivated to help them escape, however, things get a bit more complicated with a love triangle, Mun’s father’s death, and danger to Kit.

Good

It was cool to see how Mark became great at shoot outs as this was a precursor to the original “A Better Tomorrow”. It was also great to see Mark as the focal point as opposed to Kit and Ho from the previous movies. We get to see Mark get his coat, shades, and stripes.

Bad

Kit and Ho. How original! Couldn’t they have given Kit and Ho different names? This movie should have been separated from the previous editions which means they should have had new names and not remind the audience who the original people with those names were.

This didn’t have the John Woo feel as he was absent from the movie. Tsui Hark did a great job, but John Woo is synonymous with the franchise.

Overview

I did enjoy this movie despite John Woo not coming back. I actually liked this movie taking place during the fall of Saigon not from an American nor Vietnamese perspective. People speaking Vietnamese was a bonus too.